31 New Jersey bands you need to hear in 2018

There are times during the year — usually around the chaos of summer concert season — when I lose a little touch with the local New Jersey music community. I forget just how great it really is.

But this annual rundown always brings me back, as we highlight the best few-dozen New Jersey bands trotting around the state and beyond, with hope that you’ll find at least one group to refresh your playlists and go see in Asbury Park, New Brunswick, Jersey City or somewhere else as 2018 rolls on.

So let’s just get right into it, folks: here are the 31 New Jersey bands you need to hear in 2018.

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Photo by Jake Feldman

Will Wood and The Tapeworms

The wildly talented and eccentric piano-rock group led by fantastical frontman Will Wood has cultivated a devout following of fans around Northern New Jersey — I saw a girl wearing a Will Wood and The Tapeworms shirt in Macy's last week — and with a new album on the way (the release show is Feb. 3 at Roxy and Dukes in Dunellen) and a load of touring dates (their live shows are freaking nuts) a band I continue to call the most interesting in New Jersey is en route to a huge 2018.

Listen if you love: Tom Waits, Gogol Bordello

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Photo by Brian L. Tice Jr.

Hodera

If you aren't already listening to the devastatingly good Montclair band Hodera, here's what you should do: Stop reading this right now. Go look this band up immediately. I'm pretty much begging you. Matt Smith's killer folk-rock four-piece released the best New Jersey band album of 2017 in "First Things First" and will continue to tour on it in 2018. If you've ever felt feelings, this beautifully somber album is for you.

Listen if you love: The Front Bottoms, Bright Eyes

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Photo by Kelsey Ayres + Rich Weinberger

Julian Fulton

What I like most about Jersey Shore singer-songwriter-sometimes-bandleader Julian Fulton is his fearlessness. Every time I think I've pinned him as just another guy with a guitar, he throws some funky bass line or cool vocal filter over his voice. He's a smart rock-centric musician and multi-instrumentalist worth checking out solo or with his backing band the Zombie Gospel.

Listen if you love: Beck, Spoon

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Photo courtesy of Nalani and Sarina

Nalani and Sarina

For the last four years, identical twin pop-rockers Nalani and Sarina Bolton have made great, exceedingly soulful music, but the pair's latest single, Jan. 12's "Young and Inexperienced" is a brilliant millennial anthem you need to hear. More new music and live performances are promised for 2018 from the Flemington-bred duo.

Listen if you love: Tegan and Sara, Grace Potter

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Facebook.com/latewaves

Latewaves

I'm not sure "fun-rock" is an officially recognized subgenre, but that's basically what Latewaves — maybe the best guitar band to emerge in Asbury Park last year — is, to me at least: the exciting, riff-heavy and hook-laden jams that make you look up from your beer at the bar and hope the band says its name in between songs so you cyber-stalk them later. Great vocals from from frontman Mikey Pellegrino.

Listen if you love: Motion City Soundtrack, Jimmy Eat World

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Photo by auniqueting

Whiner

Is any New Jersey band doing the post-punk, left-of-center-pop "if The Killers never got famous" thing better than Whiner, based in North Jersey and playing regularly in Montclair and around New York? Frontman Cameron Castan is a gifted lyricist who truly makes your feel his memories and pseudo-romantic quips.

I've been hot on Springfield's indie-pop-garage-rock dynamo The Vaughns for a while now, and have been waiting impatiently for the group's debut LP, which should arrive sometime this year. The last EP "Tomfoolery" was terrific, led by the delightful croons and belts of frontwoman Anna Lies. If you're into alt or surf-rock, The Vaughns are also for you.

Listen if you love: Speedy Ortiz, Hop Along

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Poca

Asbury Park is not all punk bands, folk-rockers and Springsteen-soundalikes. Meet Poca (Amadi Hill), a sultry R&B/hip-hop hybrid who dropped a dynamic EP called “Apocalypto” in 2017, which showcased her rich tones and portrayed the new artist as someone who isn’t ready to be pinned down to one genre. Hey, it worked for Maplewood’s SZA last year — we’ll see what happens for Poca in ‘18.

Listen if you love: SZA, Mary J. Blige

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Facebook.com/Toycars

Toy Cars

We're only two weeks into 2018 and Toy Cars is already celebrating. Maybe this jumping the gun, but I predict the gritty Belmar pop-punkers' new album "Paint Brain" will make some year-end lists. These are thoughtful, lamenting songs that you don't realize are so sad until you've sung the catchy hooks a few times. The band's album release show is this Friday at House of Independents in Asbury Park.

Listen if you love: Real Friends, Modern Baseball

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Courtesy of Erotic Novels

Erotic Novels

New Brunswick is always good for a few new crunchy punk bands every year and the best act to emerge in 2017 was the rowdy trio Erotic Novels, led by the quivering vocals of scene stalwart Shannon Perez. The debut album, aptly called "Debut," is 15 minutes of punchy fun. And a word to the wise: if you google Erotic Novels, make sure to put "band" in there, otherwise you will not find what you're looking for.

Listen if you love: Bikini Kill, Bratmobile

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Facebook.com/AgudosClef

Agudos Clef

How about we add a little spice to this mix? Agudos Clef is a Spanish-rapping and world music duo from Trenton by way of the Dominican Republic with a killer flow and alternative flourishes. You're quicker to hear jazz on the pair's most recent LP, 2016's "Teoria," before you hear whatever you'd expect to hear from Latin hip-hop.

Listen if you love: Daddy Yankee, J Alvarez

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Courtesy of Scary Stories

Scary Stories

I've written before of the vibrant hardcore punk community that rages in New Jersey, and these days Denville's Scary Stories is tearing up the stage. The heaviest band on this list dropped a wonderfully brutal EP called "Rope" in 2017 — keep an eye out for them at your next local mosh pit.

Listen if you love: Foundation, The Devil Wears Prada

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Photo by Dan Marter

Lyons

Lyons is something of a local supergroup in Asbury Park, featuring longtime shore musicians Jenny Vickers, Charleen Artese, Lisa English, Sharon McDonaugh, Amy Malkoff in this new, all-female surf-rock iteration. The music off the new band's self-titled 2017 debut is sharp as a tack — give it a go.

Listen if you love: Jenny Lewis, Best Coast

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Courtesy of The Cold Seas

The Cold Seas

An unreal number of bands currently jam Asbury Park right now spanning nearly every genre, but none of them sound quite like The Cold Seas. By name alone, I'd have guessed the group was another indie-folk outfit writing about the ocean, but the band is actually a moody electro-rock project led by Chad Sabo's arresting vocals and ex-Armor For Sleep drummer Nash Breen sitting in on the kit. The four-piece's September EP "Bad Dreams" is unsettling and intense … in a good way.

Listen if you love: Muse, Radiohead

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Facebook.com/NightOnTheSun

Night On The Sun

Night on the Sun's super-sleek electro-pop sound could be on the radio tomorrow. The airy Ringwood quartet's debut EP "Aural Episodic" was released last summer and the guys have been crossing the river to play the bright new songs all over New York. Don't be surprised if they soon take off like fellow Jersey pop groups Young Rising Sons or ARIZONA.

Listen if you love: Bastille, Neon Trees

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Photo courtesy of Forth Wanderers

Forth Wanderers

Montclair has become a breeding ground for great rock music of late (see my Hodera gushing above) and Forth Wanderers are yet another deft group who have already earned their indie street cred beyond the Jersey borders. Lead vocalist Ava Trilling works beautifully as a melancholic foil to the band's bright guitar work. The band is due for new music in 2018 after the success of 2016's EP "Slop" — stay tuned!

Listen if you love: Hop Along, Waxahatchee

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Facebook.com/Franchise

Franchise

There isn't a ton of heavy music on this list, but North Jersey thrashers Franchise returned last year with an absolutely searing EP called "Ghost Light" and reminded why they are easily one of the most formidable post-hardcore bands in the state. If you squealed with glee when Jersey icons Thursday returned in 2016, this is a band for you.

Listen if you love: Circa Survive, Of Mice and Men

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Wyldlife

I'd held out hope for years that Jersey City retro-party rockers Wyldlife would return with some reckless record and I got my wish in 2017 with the release of "Out On Your Block," which fits the band's M.O., harkening back to the days of blurry-eyed, pounding rock n' roll. But be warned: Wyldlife's hooks stay lodged in your brain for days. The four-piece plays Diviera Drive in Brooklyn Jan. 26.

Listen if you love: The Rolling Stones, MC5

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Rocky and The Chapter

Rocky and The Chapter goes down easy: wonderfully polished, pop-punk-inspired rock tunes from New Brunswick. The hard-working band's latest album "They're Not Supposed To Care About Us" is full of heart and fun, riffy hooks.

Listen if you love: The Wonder Years, Transit

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Emily Scooby Dubin

Fire Is Motion

Local listeners, meet Fire Is Motion: this folk-leaning indie group from Union emerged late in 2017 with the debut EP "Still, I Try" and had a list of music blogs buzzing about singer-songwriter Adrian Amador, who leads the band and its rotating cast of supporting members. The tunes are affecting and clean, definitely worth a try if you've latched onto similar Jersey folk-rock acts like Pinegrove or Hodera.

Listen if you love: Conor Oberst, Okkervil River

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Photo by Matt Smith | For NJ.com

Modern Chemistry

Modern Chemistry continues to be one of the glue bands holding the Central Jersey music scene together, and 2017 was another huge year for the pumping alt-rock four-piece; more huge performances opening for Taking Back Sunday and a new album "Everything In Gold" that comprised the group's best work so far. The new year will bring more writing and more time on the road, frontman Joe Zorzi says.

Listen if you love: Taking Back Sunday, Manchester Orchestra

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Facebook.com/WellWisher

Well Wisher

I've written a bunch about the New Brunswick pop trio Dollys over the years, and the spark to that now-defunct act was always drummer-singer Natalie Newbold, who now fronts her own new project, a more rock-steady endeavor called Well Wisher. She's a strong, bright vocalist with a big upside in 2018.

Listen if you love: Best Coast, Candy Hearts

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Photo by Matt Smith | For NJ.com

Deal Casino

Every year — every month, even — it seems like Asbury Park's Deal Casino is up to something. Last year, the tireless pop-rock outfit released its debut LP, a strong, impassioned effort that has led me to regularly check if frontman Joe Parella and his rocker pals have signed their major label deal yet. These are truly bright, well-written jams and the band's live show is something to behold. Go listen, go see them.

Listen if you love: Young The Giant, Cold War Kids

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Photo by Bartlett Lentini

Cranston Dean

Multi-instrumentalist Cranston Dean and his killer blend of rock, blues, funk and folk was a welcome discovery late last year — he and his band's new record "High Beams" is a great, loose stroll through bright piano, smart guitars and fun brass behind Dean's gravelly vocal delivery. Cool stuff from the Jersey Shore talent.

Are you excited that The Gaslight Anthem is back for reunion shows in 2018 but don't know what to do until then? I beseech you, go listen to the ridiculously catchy punk-rock of Asbury Park's The Vansaders. The band, led by gritty frontman Doug Zambon, has developed a healthy following in Music City, N.J. and frankly, I can't get enough of them. More music is coming in 2018 to save us all.

Listen if you love: The Bouncing Souls, Frank Turner

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Bo Mason

Last year, Deadmau5 tasked Jersey City music maker Bo Mason with a task: if Mason's 2016 debut "Doves In The Valley Of Shadows" reached 1 million plays, the EDM superstar would fly him up to Canada and produce a full-length album for him. Well, that has happened an Mason's Deadmau5-produced record should be out this year. If it's anything like his stellar debut — a sweet meld of electro-hip-hop and R&B — we'll be listening.

Listen if you love: Frank Ocean, Miguel

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Photo courtesy of Hideaway

Hideaway

If you've hung around the New Jersey pop-rock scene long enough you'll remember The New Royalty, an exciting young band who regularly rocked the shore, opened for Big Time Rush for 8,000 people at Six Flags (and weirdly had a huge following in South America). The group has recently rebranded itself as the less-teen-friendly Hideaway and with its new single "Nothin' On Me" and an album ready to go, 2018 will be front-woman Bree Iafelice and crew's make-or-break year.

Listen if you love: Paramore, Tonight Alive

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Photo by Matt Smith | For NJ.com

Teenage Halloween

First and foremost, Teenage Halloween is an absolutely killer new punk-centric group. They are based at the shore but have become staples of the New Brunswick basement scene as well. But above all else, you need to appreciate the band's elasticity — they'll play with a dozen or more members, horns included, or with two or three, with petulant wailer Luke Henderiks at the helm. Either way, TH is there to jam your cares away.

Listen if you love: The Front Bottoms, Sorority Noise

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Photo by Foto Cavallo

Remember Jones

Your New Jersey music New Year's resolution should be to leave your house and see one of Remember Jones' electrifying "Back To Black" Amy Winehouse tribute performances, complete with a modern 15-piece big band and the man himself (real name Anthony D'Amato) wailing away. Also check out his latest, retro-sizzling LP "Ladies and Gentlemen, Remember Jones!"

Listen if you love: James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone

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Ockey Bama

In New Jersey, you often need to dig a little deeper to uncover the state's best hip-hop artists. And Ockey Bama, a smooth rhymer native to Bruce Springsteen's Freehold, is a dude I'm glad I stumbled upon. The emcee born Freequan Johnson's 2016 debut "For The Win" was sharply penned and his new record "One Blonde" is full of quick-witted lyrics and trappy beats to fuel the rapper in 2018.